View Full Version : Help me find a new city
Austin has gotten too big and to Kalifornia for me. It is time to leave.
I am looking for suggestions of cities to investigate and will post this same thread in the NW subforum also. Work is not a consideration - I have my own business and can do it from anywhere.
I am looking for a city in the range of between 50,000 to 100,000 population - big enough to have a wide variety of services but not too big. Austin is now the sixteenth largest city in the US and has the traffic to go with it. Yikes!
I am also looking for higher elevations - say 5,000 to 8,000 feet, or thereabout.
A school town would be a plus to add a little culture.
Gun-friendly goes without saying. As long as I am being picky, a city with a majority of women over men would also be nice as I am single.
I am near retirement and this no doubt will be my last move ever until they plant me.
I look forward to whatever suggestions you might have. Thanks in advance!
Edited to clarify: I am looking for suggestions of cities that meet my critera.
You might look at Flagstaff, Arizona or Prescott, Arizona.
I think you should consider Arizona. Just be advised that if you buy a home in Flagstaff they can be spendy. If you come down south to the Phoenix area there are alot of nice places.
Peoria, Glendale or even Goodyear are nice enough and our traffic down here really isn't bad considering the size of Phoenix.
Starting in late September until around mid May the weather is excellent around here.
Thanks, guys. Yes, Arizona is high on my list, specifically Flag and Prescott.
Working with a map and Wiki, the cities that more or less seem to meet my criteria are:
Arizona Flagstaff
Arizona Prescott
Colorado Boulder (probably too expensive and too political)
Colorado Grand Junction
Colorado Longmont
Colorado Loveland
Colorado Pueblo
Idaho Idaho Falls
Idaho Pocatello
Montana Billings
Montana Great Falls
Montana Missoula
Nevada Carson City
New Mexico Santa Fe (probably too expensive)
Oregon Bend
S Dakota Rapid City
Wyoming Casper
Wyoming Chyenne
Additional comments are very wlecome. Most important to me is a high quality of life; although, I realize that is very subjective.
When I get the list refined and narrowed I am going to start making visits to the short list cities.
if you dont like Austin, you will hate Boulder :D
longmont and loveland to me are still Denver, I am a big fan of the denver area. Parker is good, Personally, if I could Id go to Evergreen Co.
S Dakota Rapid City
Is your answer IMHO.
Lived there for about 6 years and loved the area. SD is very gun friendly, has lots of hunting and fishing.
RC has a nice airport with good connections to Denver, Salt Lake and Minneapolis.
Elevation is around 3000' and you will have four seasons.
Check it out!
Buckaroo
S Dakota Rapid City Is your answer IMHO.
Thanks! Yes, RC will be on my short list for sure, as will Flag and Prescott. I have spent some time in the Black Hills and love it there. Custer State Park is one of my favorites.
Austin has gotten too big and to Kalifornia for me. It is time to leave.
I am looking for suggestions of cities to investigate and will post this same thread in the NW subforum also. Work is not a consideration - I have my own business and can do it from anywhere.
I am looking for a city in the range of between 50,000 to 100,000 population - big enough to have a wide variety of services but not too big. Austin is now the sixteenth largest city in the US and has the traffic to go with it. Yikes!
I am also looking for higher elevations - say 5,000 to 8,000 feet, or thereabout.
A school town would be a plus to add a little culture.
Gun-friendly goes without saying. As long as I am being picky, a city with a majority of women over men would also be nice as I am single.
I am near retirement and this no doubt will be my last move ever until they plant me.
I look forward to whatever suggestions you might have. Thanks in advance!
Edited to clarify: I am looking for suggestions of cities that meet my critera.
Fort Collins Colorado almost exactly fits your needs. Some of the best mom & pop restaraunts in the nation; as well as plenty of local breweries/pubs. Pawnee national grasslands/roosevelt national park are about a 30 minute drive (Excellent camping and recreation), with the poudre river about 20 minutes drive (one of the coolest & best outdoor venues: Mishawaka ampitheater; if you like music). Denver is about a 45 minute drive, the wyoming border is about a 30 minute drive. CSU is there; as well as a few community colleges also. Lots of ladies (mostly college aged though I bet the older woman are around as well), and not all princess' either. Very gun friendly (I open carried there for four years and not 1 bad situation arose; other than the usual anti-gun fools spouting at the mouth). PLenty of places to go shooting. Fort Collins is one of he top towns in the nation to retire in as well; they have one of the largest retirement communities in the nation.
If leaning towards the North West; look to Bend Oregon. Great town.
If I had to choose form your list I would say Billings, Montana, Longmont, Colorado, or Bend Oregon.
Good luck with your search & move!
I'd take Santa Fe off your list - it's Kalifornia lite, and annoying beyond belief.
I'd consider Los Alamos, Los Lunas, Las Cruces, or Socorro, Rio Rancho/Greater Albuquerque first.
Flagstaff, Prescott, Casa Grande, and extreme suburban Phoenix; Ft. Collins, Pueblo, Colorado Springs.
I'm from Albuquerque, and more or less in the same boat for preferences. Los Alamos is the most attractive, at 7700ft, and hemmed in by parks and federal land.
Fried Chicken Blowout
10-12-10, 21:13
We moved to Colorado from California and couldn't be happier. We're in Mead, Co which a tiny town of about 2000 people that is between two of your choice cities of Longmont and Loveland. I would suggest that you not move to either Longmont or Loveland, but stay in Weld County for improved tax situations and for the gun friendly DA and Sheriff of Weld County. That's why we chose Mead. It's in Weld County but close to both Loveland and Longmont for easy access to everything we what, all while not giving too much away in taxes to the douche bags in Boulder County.
PM me if you want more info about the area.
Jason
pilotguyo540
10-12-10, 23:45
I moved from westminster colorado a year and almost half ago. It is part of the asphalt slab that connects denver to boulder. All suburbs in that area. Not really for me. The populace seemed to be about 80% douche bags.
I did a couple of years in AZ. I love it there (except the heat).
If Austin is too Kali, I would suggest avoiding any university town and its Kulture. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Bend is not a bad town. It is small. I think the Lancair factory is there if you are into planes.
I'd take Santa Fe off your list - it's Kalifornia lite, and annoying beyond belief.:
:D
Reminds me of taking my daughter up to school there and reading in the local paper that the mayor had said that all the 'gringos should wake up with a gun barrel in their ear', or words to that effect.
rattlesnake
11-03-10, 18:57
Santa Fe is probably just as bad as Austin. We call it Santa Gay here. Very Very liberal. Most resturants post no guns signs. There are much nicer spots in new mexico like the east mountains that are gun friendly. We just got a republican governor and booted 6 dems out of the state legislator, so gun rights should hold firm for atleast the next 2 years. There is no gun registration in NM. Background checks are only required when buying from a ffl dealer. The crappy thing is you gotta get a permit to conceal your weapon. Hopefully this new governer will make concealed carry a issue. I doubt it though. She did pledge to revoke the drivers licenses of the over 50,000 illegal aliens given out by democrats.
Sounds like AZ would be a great place to live. I would go to the higher elevation towns like flagstaff, because the summers are hell in the desert.
Santa Fe is probably just as bad as Austin.Yeah, I have pretty much ruled out Santa Fe and Boulder for that reason.
A gun-friendly college town at altitude, hmmm. Plenty of good ideas in the Rockies and the Southwest already so how about these?
Logan, Utah: pop. 50,000, elevation 4534 ft, home of Utah State U.
Pocatello, Idaho: pop. 52,000, elevation 4465 ft, home of Idaho State U.
Cheyenne, Wyoming: pop. 58,000, elevation 6062 ft, UW is not far away in Laramie.
Cedar City, Utah
Brigham City, Utah
Heber City, Utah
Roosevelt, Utah
Vernal, Utah
Tooele, Utah
Utah has the best Brady score in the nation... a perfect zero.
I've spent a ton of time in Grand Junction, CO Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful... It's a college town, has a really cool downtown area, and everything outdoors you could ask for.
Plus you get to stay away from Denver, and Boulder...
Fort Collins would be my 2nd choice in CO, followed by the West side of Colorado Springs, maybe even up to Woodland Park, CO
Hey yeah, GJ isn't bad either. Close to Utah yet happily in the land of real beer.
Logan and Brigham aren't bad either, and real close to Idaho.
LowSpeed_HighDrag
11-08-10, 20:24
Loveland Colorado is the perfect city IMO if you make more than 75k. On the plains, foothills, and mountains. Check out Jensen Arms if you ever make youre way up there, best gun store in the US.
Thanks, guys. Yes, Arizona is high on my list, specifically Flag and Prescott.
Working with a map and Wiki, the cities that more or less seem to meet my criteria are:
Arizona Flagstaff
Arizona Prescott
Colorado Boulder (probably too expensive and too political)
Colorado Grand Junction
Colorado Longmont
Colorado Loveland
Colorado Pueblo
Idaho Idaho Falls
Idaho Pocatello
Montana Billings
Montana Great Falls
Montana Missoula
Nevada Carson City
New Mexico Santa Fe (probably too expensive)
Oregon Bend
S Dakota Rapid City
Wyoming Casper
Wyoming Chyenne
Additional comments are very wlecome. Most important to me is a high quality of life; although, I realize that is very subjective.
When I get the list refined and narrowed I am going to start making visits to the short list cities.I
I got on this a little late, but I've lived in Colorado for 35 years and travelled around a lot.
Colorado at this time is very gun friendly with very good state laws. We have too many Left Coasters moving here so they can screw up Colorado as well. In your situation I would look at Pueblo and Grand Junction, the latter first. Wyoming is a pretty cold place in the winter and it's not for warm weather people.
Good luck.
Billings is not going to far enough West for you. Miles City and Missoula are very nice though.
Nvision-Az
11-18-10, 10:01
If you are looking in AZ, Prescott is more gun friendly than Flagstaff. More gun shops, more ranges, more "cowboy" attitude. Elevation is just above 5000 feet. The "other" mile high city. It's full of retired people with nothing to do and no where to go, so the one road through town is always busy. It does have a community college and a couple of casinos. Prices are higher than Phx, but not as high as Flagstaff.
Flagstaff is bigger, has a bigger college, and the Fish and Game have just announced a new shooting range they are going to build east of town and just south of I-40. Lots of highway tourists, lots of Phoenicians getting out of summer heat or coming up to ski.
Prices for housing are high unless you live further out of town.
Flagstaff does have Gary Reeder, so if you are ready for a fancy custom made pistola, he is well known around the world.
I live outside of Flagstaff but travel to both of these town for work. I like the trees around the Flagstaff area better than the plains of Prescott Valley, can't stand the traffic to live in the trees in Prescott.
Hope this helps. Feel free to ping me if you have any questions.
Other areas to look in are around the Show Low/Pinetop/lakeside area. Although smaller, very gun friendly.
Nvision
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